Batman: Year One

[Gamma Goliath]

Same here. I just want to see a nice clear version, because the only way I can view it is throughmy cell phone on you tube.

 

[theMan-Bat]

You can show just as much 'respect' by maintaining the spirit and vibe of the story, but reimagining it for another medium. I'd rather see an animated film based on a comic book, than a moving comic book. You respect the comics by acknowledging what works uniquely in them, and doing something different in a way unique to another format.

Reimagining it and just attempting to maintain "the spirit" and "vibe" of the story wouldn't show just as much "respect" for the source material as it does doing an actual faithful adaption, staying true to dialogue, the storyline, events, like the No Country For Old Men film stayed extremely faithful to the Cormac McCarthy novel and the Sin City film stayed extremely faithful to the Frank Miller comic books.

I think if the film is good enough, it should attract people just as well...and wouldn't it be nice if they got the comic, and it offered something different than what they got in the film they just saw...something unique to comics?

You shouldn't make a film to simulate the experience of reading a comic book...that's what comics are for...and vice versa. Each version can do the same story in their own distinct way, benefitting both and, in turn, respecting the core story even more.

They aren't making the film to simulate the experience of reading the comic book. The comic offers things unique to it - the original art by David Mazzucchelli, Richmond Lewis' coloring, singular isolated panels for a scene, panel structure, splash pages, word balloons, the original printed text to read, etc. The film does offer things unique to it - animation, spoken dialogue by Bryan Cranston, Ben McKenzie, Eliza Dushku, Katee Sackhoff, Grey DeLisle, Alex Rocco, extended scenes beyond one panel on the page, added backgrounds, some added dialogue (in the trailer where Bruce says "12 years, the ache is still fresh, like a raw angry nerve, this isn't about healing, I'm not looking for closure", that dialogue is not in the original comic by Frank Miller), music, moving visuals, seeing it all come alive. The film, while very faithful, is not a complete carbine copy of the comic. As seen in the released image from the scene where Bruce visits his parents graves. It would have been very easy for them to have just left all of the background blank there, as it is in the comic. Instead, they gave it a detailed realistic background to bring an extra dimension to it, now you can know where exactly he's at. The films animators needn't slavishly copy all the comic book panels entirely.

I feel it would be even more respectful not to mirror the constant first-person narration, and instead incorporate what it's doing for the story functionally in a different way. Use less of it, represent it more through moving imagery and other aspects that comics can't do, and have the film be a 'companion piece' that expands what the story has to offer, instead of just mimicking it.

Retaining much of the dialogue, storyline and events from the book is being truly respectful and faithful to it. I'm glad that they've remained as faithful to the book as they have. Many films do successfully have first-person narrations. It's in Taxi Driver, Sin City, Million Dollar Baby, The Shawshank Redemption, etc.

 

[KalMart]

They aren't making the film to simulate the experience of reading the comic book. The comic offers things unique to it - the original art by David Mazzucchelli, Richmond Lewis' coloring, singular isolated panels for a scene, panel structure, splash pages, word balloons, the original printed text to read, etc. The film does offer things unique to it - animation, spoken dialogue by Bryan Cranston, Ben McKenzie, Eliza Dushku, Katee Sackhoff, Grey DeLisle, Alex Rocco, extended scenes beyond one panel on the page, added backgrounds, some added dialogue (in the trailer where Bruce says "12 years, the ache is still fresh, like a raw angry nerve, this isn't about healing, I'm not looking for closure", that dialogue is not in the original comic by Frank Miller), music, moving visuals, seeing it all come alive. The film, while very faithful, is not a complete carbine copy of the comic. As seen in the released image from the scene where Bruce visits his parents graves. It would have been very easy for them to have just left all of the background blank there, as it is in the comic. Instead, they gave it a detailed realistic background to bring an extra dimension to it, now you can know where exactly he's at. The films animators needn't slavishly copy all the comic book panels entirely.

Retaining much of the dialogue, storyline and events from the book is being truly respectful and faithful to it. I'm glad that they've remained as faithful to the book as they have. Many films do successfully have first-person narrations. It's in Taxi Driver, Sin City, Million Dollar Baby, The Shawshank Redemption, etc.

They can still stay 'faithful' by doing it differently. I'd rather see it done as more of a film, than a 'comic-book on the screen'. Part of that would be doing less voiceover and more showing....I think it would take more creativity to do. But then, I guess it's all personal preference, anyway. Taxi Driver, Shawshank, and MDB were good examples of using voiceover in a different way than what most of the narration in Year One does....Sin City is more like Year One, and I felt there was way too much voiceover in that movie. It reads better, and looks better with still images, than it sounds with moving ones. that's why i say do it differently with Year One than exactly what's in the comics. Make it sparser...use it as flavoring in a few strategic points, and let the action/dialogue/movement/visuals do their thing without it for longer expanses.

It can still very much be a faithful/respectful animated/film version of Batman: Year One, without being a literal carryover of Batman: Year One the comic.

 

[theMan-Bat]

They can still stay 'faithful' by doing it differently.

Not really, no. Reimagining it and just attempting to maintain "the spirit" and "vibe" of the story wouldn't show just as much "faithfulness" to the source material as it does doing an actual faithful adaption, including the first-person narrations of James Gordon and Bruce Wayne.

I'd rather see it done as more of a film, than a 'comic-book on the screen'. Part of that would be doing less voiceover and 'more showing....

Taxi Driver has tons of Travis Bickle's voice-over and isn't a comic book on the screen.

But then, I guess it's all personal preference, anyway. Taxi Driver, Shawshank, and MDB were good examples of using voiceover in a different way than what most of the narration in Year One does. Sin City is more like Year One, and I felt there was way too much voiceover in that movie.

Taxi Driver, The Shawshank Redemption and Million Dollar Baby feature voice-over narrations so the character's thoughts and feelings are counterpoint to their actions and also explains things that are not shown. Batman: Year One and Sin City's voice-over narrations are the same way. Taxi Driver has tons of Travis Bickle's voice-over narrations through-out much of the movie. The only difference is that Sin City and Batman: Year One are adaptions of comic books, so because of that apparently you look at them as less films and just "comic-books on the screen".

It reads better, and looks better with still images, than it sounds with moving ones. that's why i say do it differently with Year One than exactly what's in the comics. Make it sparser...use it as flavoring in a few strategic points, and let the action/dialogue/movement/visuals do their thing without it for longer expanses.

I disagree that Sin City reads better and looks better as a comic book. Marv's dialogue in particular read ridiculously in the comic to me. Mickey Rourke, using that tone of voice and gravitas speech pattern he used made it work, brought life to it, the same with Hartigan's partner, Bob's dialogue, "You got a bum ticker", reads very cheesy, but Michael Madsen's delivery managed to make it sound believable for that character. And the look of the Sin City film was amazing.

It can still very much be a faithful/respectful animated/film version of Batman: Year One, without being a literal carryover of Batman: Year One the comic.

That wouldn't be faithful to the comic if they left out most of Bruce Wayne's narration and all of Gordon's narration. I'm glad that they've remained as faithful to the book as they have, including the narrations.

 

[KalMart]

Not really, no. Reimagining it and just attempting to maintain "the spirit" and "vibe" of the story wouldn't show just as much "faithfulness" to the source material as it does doing an actual faithful adaption, including the first-person narrations of James Gordon and Bruce Wayne.

See...you're looking at this "faithfulness" as a virtue and an obligation...I see it as a choice, being no more or less noble/right than reimagining and modifying it for another format. It depends on what someone is looking for from a comic-to-film/animation adaptation.

Taxi Driver has tons of Travis Bickle's voice-over and isn't a comic book on the screen.

Taxi Driver, The Shawshank Redemption and Million Dollar Baby feature voice-over narrations so the character's thoughts and feelings are counterpoint to their actions and also explains things that are not shown. Batman: Year One and Sin City's voice-over narrations are the same way. Taxi Driver has tons of Travis Bickle's voice-over narrations though-out much of the movie. The only difference is that Sin City and Batman: Year One are adaptions of comic books, so because of that apparently you look at them as less films and just "comic-books on the screen".

Not really, no...that's not how differentiate, and I certainly don't look down on the comics. I actually try to respect the comics by letting it maintain how it tells their stories in a way unique to that format, while adapting and reimagining what it's doing for those stories in a different way for another format. Like I said, I'd still keep some of it, but I wouldn't mirror all of it.

Put it this way...if I were making a comic version of Taxi Driver...I wouldn't mirror the voiceover narration of the film in the comics, either. I'd be looking to do a comic version that didn't rely so much on the narration and look for other ways to represent it with what comics have to offer differently from film...in their layout, page composition, etc.. I see that as the utmost respect to both mediums, and not a disrespect to the material if it's done well.

I disagree that Sin City reads better and looks better as a comic book. Marv's dialogue in particular read ridiculously in the comic to me. Mickey Rourke, using that tone of voice and gravitas speech pattern he used made it work, brought life to it, the same with Hartigan's partner, Bob's dialogue, "You got a bum ticker", reads very cheesy, but Michael Madsen's delivery managed to make it sound believable for that character. And the look of the Sin City film was amazing.

That wouldn't be faithful to the comic if they left out most of Bruce Wayne's narration and all of Gordon's narration. I'm glad that they've remained as faithful to the book as they have, including the narrations.

Different strokes, then.

 

[theMan-Bat]

See...you're looking at this "faithfulness" as a virtue and an obligation...I see it as a choice, being no more or less noble/right than reimagining and modifying it for another format. It depends on what someone is looking for from a comic-to-film/animation adaptation.

I do look at faithfulness to the source material as a virtue, however, I'm not looking for the film to be a complete carbine copy of the comic, as I've pointed out, there are some differences between the Batman: Year One film and the comic.

Not really, no...that's not how differentiate, and I certainly don't look down on the comics. I actually try to respect the comics by letting it maintain how it tells their stories in a way unique to that format, while adapting and reimagining what it's doing for those stories in a different way for another format. Like I said, I'd still keep some of it, but I wouldn't mirror all of it.

Put it this way...if I were making a comic version of Taxi Driver...I wouldn't mirror the voiceover narration of the film in the comics, either. I'd be looking to do a comic version that didn't rely so much on the narration and look for other ways to represent it with what comics have to offer differently from film...in their layout, page composition, etc.. I see that as the utmost respect to both mediums, and not a disrespect to the material if it's done well.

Taxi Driver's narration could work in the comic book format, too. Comic books have the characters narration in text to read, film has the characters narration in voice-over to hear. And, of course, comic books are also a visual medium.

Different strokes, then.

Exactly.

 

[jiggychoo]

Oliver wilde !!

 

[Drz]

The official website has bene launched, i'm just having the website on because of the awesome track on loop. :P

 

[The Caped Knight]

The track theme sounds awesome . Also loved how the official website is advertising Arkham City.

 

[theMan-Bat]

Awesome. Great to see the trailer in the wider screen.
The theme on the site definitely sounds influenced by the Blade Runner (End Titles) theme by Vangelis.
[YT]JAwo7DPUFUM[/YT]

 

[The Caped Knight]

The Official Press Release for Batman:Year One

High-res cover art

Spoiler

LEGENDARY TALE COMES TO ANIMATED LIFE

FRANK MILLER’S ORIGIN STORY OF THE DARK KNIGHT IS AN ALL-NEW DC UNIVERSE ANIMATED ORIGINAL MOVIE
BATMAN: YEAR ONE COMING OCTOBER 18, 2011 FROM WARNER HOME VIDEO

Three-time Emmy Award Winner Bryan Cranston and Southland Star Ben McKenzie Joined by Fanboy Faves Eliza Dushku and Katee Sackhoff in Stellar Voice Cast
Available as Blu-rayTM Combo Pack & DVD

Release also includes DC Showcase short Catwoman​

Comics legend Frank Miller’s classic retelling of Batman’s gritty, formative days makes its full-length animated debut in Batman: Year One, the next entry in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated film arrives October 18, 2011 from Warner Home Video as a Blu-ray™ Combo Pack ($24.98 SRP) and DVD ($19.98 SRP), On Demand and for Download. Order due date is September 13, 2011.

Batman: Year One is based on the landmark 1987 DC Comics titles from 12-time Eisner Award winner Frank Miller and illustrator David Mazzucchelli. The film depicts young Bruce Wayne’s return to Gotham City in his first attempts to fight injustice as a costumed vigilante. The playboy billionaire chooses the guise of a giant bat to combat crime, creates an early bond with a young Lieutenant James Gordon (who is already battling corruption from inside the police department), inadvertently plays a role in the birth of Catwoman, and helps to bring down a crooked political system that infests Gotham.

Primetime television stars Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Ben McKenzie (Southland, The O.C.), Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) provide the core voices for Batman: Year One. Three-time Emmy® Award winner Cranston gives voice to young Jim Gordon, while McKenzie makes his animated voiceover debut as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Fanboy favorites Dushku and Sackhoff fill the roles of Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Detective Sarah Essen, respectively. Alex Rocco (The Godfather) is the voice of crime lord Carmine Falcone.

Animation master Bruce Timm is executive producer of Batman: Year One. Directors are Lauren Montgomery (Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) and Sam Liu (All-Star Superman) from a script penned by Academy Award® nominee Tab Murphy (Gorillas in the Mist, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse).

“Batman: Year One offers fans and newcomers alike an animated perspective on one of the true benchmark works in Batman comics history,” said Hersin Magante, Warner Home Video Marketing Manager, Family &, Animation.. “Bruce Timm and the Warner Bros. Animation team have gone to great lengths to realize Frank Miller’s ground-breaking, influential vision. Batman: Year One stands tall as the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie.”

Batman: Year One Blu-ray™ Combo Pack has almost 3 hours of exciting content, including:
• Feature film
• Sneak Peek at Justice League: Doom, the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie
• DC Showcase Animated Original Short – “Catwoman”: This all-new entry to the growing canon of DC Universe animated shorts features the first first solo tale centered around Catwoman. The felonious feline’s adventure takes her through the seedy streets of Gotham City. Catwoman is voiced by Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse, Tru Calling).

• Featurette –“Heart of Vengeance: Returning Batman to His Roots”: “The Dark Knight Returns” provided the denouement of Batman's life. Frank Miller's next seminal work would provide his near-mythic origin in “Batman: Year One.” This documentary uncovers the contemporary genius of Miller and the audience that was poised to appreciate the depths of his work.

• Featurette –“Conversations with DC Comics”: The Batman creative team at DC Entertainment discusses the personal influence of “Batman: Year One” on their careers. Batman producer Michael Uslan leads the chat amongst well-known writers, editors and artists of the Batman lore, focusing their dialogue on the darker, realistic interpretation of Batman’s origins by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli

• Audio Commentary with Alan Burnett, Sam Liu, Mike Carlin and Andrea Romano
• “Batman: Year One, Chapter 1” Digital Comic Book
• Two bonus episodes from “Batman: The Animated Series,” handpicked by Bruce Timm
• Standard and high definition versions of the feature film
• Digital copy on disc of the feature film compatible with iTunes and Windows

BASICS
Street Date: October 18, 2011
Order Due Date: September 13, 2011
Languages: English and Spanish
Audio: Dolby Surround Stereo
Color / Closed Captioned
MPAA Rating: PG-13

Batman: Year One
Blu-ray Combo Pack - $24.98 SRP
SD 1 Disc - $19.98 SRP
BD Combo Pack UPC: 1000165432 / 883929153602
1-DiscUPC: 1000165430 / 883929153589

http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/news.php/news.php?action=fullnews&id=1079

 

[Drz]

Disappointed that the commentary isn't with the Miller himself, but glad to see theres a featurette of him.

 

[spider-neil]

a justice league doom preview! YES!!

 

[theMan-Bat]

Looks great! And the cover gives conformation on Catwoman's look in the short.

And the trailer confirms Catwoman's look in Batman: Year One.

Disappointed that the commentary isn't with the Miller himself, but glad to see theres a featurette of him.

The Heart of Vengeance: Returning Batman to His Roots featurette is a nice touch. Frank Miller was very likely offered to do commentary but was too busy with his own projects, and Frank Miller knows he's in good hands with Bruce Timm.

According to Bruce Timm's DVD commentary for the "Legends of the Dark Knight" episode, which adapted a segment of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, when Bruce Timm asked for permission Frank Miller said something along the lines of "Go ahead, I'm in good hands." On the commentary of "Legends of the Dark Knight" and in the Modern Marvels book Bruce Timm said Frank Miller's response was that he called back three times, leaving three messages, each were raving about that episode, and each were longer than the previous. Saying things like "That was great!", "Watched it again, you did a good job!" and "Lynn saw it; she went 'Hey, that's Carrie Kelley!'"

O: Were you happy with the episode of Batman: The Animated Series that used your Dark Knight character designs?

FM: Oh, that was wonderful! [Laughs.] It was hilarious, yeah. Bruce Timm called me up, the animator, and asked if it was okay if he did a little bit of Dark Knight in the show. And I said, "Absolutely, you're Bruce Timm!" He said, "Do you want to see a script?" I said, "No, you're Bruce Timm! I just want a videotape." The videotape came, and I watched it about three times in a row, laughing out loud. It's spot-on. He even got my Robin right.
http://www.avclub.com/articles/frank-miller,13748/

 

[kal-el1990]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdMtMU91u0U

Here's the trailer for anyone who hasn't seen it yet!

 

[Mako]

Thanks. I honestly cannot wait for this

 

[Drz]

The Heart of Vengeance: Returning Batman to His Roots featurette is a nice touch. Frank Miller was very likely offered to do commentary but was too busy with his own projects, and Frank Miller knows he's in good hands with Bruce Timm.

According to Bruce Timm's DVD commentary for the "Legends of the Dark Knight" episode, which adapted a segment of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, when Bruce Timm asked for permission Frank Miller said something along the lines of "Go ahead, I'm in good hands." On the commentary of "Legends of the Dark Knight" and in the Modern Marvels book Bruce Timm said Frank Miller's response was that he called back three times, leaving three messages, each were raving about that episode, and each were longer than the previous. Saying things like "That was great!", "Watched it again, you did a good job!" and "Lynn saw it; she went 'Hey, that's Carrie Kelley!'"

O: Were you happy with the episode of Batman: The Animated Series that used your Dark Knight character designs?

FM: Oh, that was wonderful! [Laughs.] It was hilarious, yeah. Bruce Timm called me up, the animator, and asked if it was okay if he did a little bit of Dark Knight in the show. And I said, "Absolutely, you're Bruce Timm!" He said, "Do you want to see a script?" I said, "No, you're Bruce Timm! I just want a videotape." The videotape came, and I watched it about three times in a row, laughing out loud. It's spot-on. He even got my Robin right.
http://www.avclub.com/articles/frank-miller,13748/

Yeah the featurettes are usually very nice 15-30 minute long looks on the book, it's reception and how important it is and usually with the writer's own insight so i wouldn't be surprised if theres footage of him talking, then it usually will have the likes of Geoff Johns, Alan Burnett, Bruce Timm, Dan Didio and now also Morrison seems to pop up and say his thoughts, oh and the film directors too.

It's just that i was really spoiled by the commentary in All Star Superman where Bruce and Morrison discuss the movie and everything, i'd love to see Miller just fangasming and the creators praising each other, which is what happened with all star Superman too, but it had it's very good share of Superman talk.

Still it's gonna be good to hear Andrea Romano's insight how she guided the voice actors into the right way and how their performance ends up.

 

[Freedom77]

ugh, I find the art and animation so uninspiring it's almost insulting. And the voice over? dear god...

 

[GhostPoet]

can't wait!!! =D

 

[theMan-Bat]

ugh, I find the art and animation so uninspiring it's almost insulting. And the voice over? dear god...

The art and animation are appropriately inspired by David Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year One art. It's respecting the fans and the creators of Batman: Year One to make such a faithful film adaption with such obvious reverence for the source material. And the voice-over is retaining the noir style narration by Bruce Wayne and James Gordon which is attached to the original comic book.

 

[Freedom77]

The art and animation are appropriately inspired by David Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year One art. It's respecting the fans and the creators of Batman: Year One to make such a faithful film adaption with such obvious reverence for the source material. And the voice-over is retaining the noir style narration by Bruce Wayne and James Gordon which is attached to the original comic book.

IMO the animation looks flat and simplistic and the voice over is soulless.

It comes off as college project with a high budget.

 

[Still Wynning]

IMO the animation looks flat and simplistic and the voice over is soulless.

It comes off as college project with a high budget.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdd6_ZxX8c
[YT]pWdd6_ZxX8c[/YT]

 

[theMan-Bat]

IMO the animation looks flat and simplistic and the voice over is soulless.

It comes off as college project with a high budget.

The animation looks detailed and has dimension to it and the voice-overs definitely aren't soulless. Bryan Cranston's James Gordon voice-over sounds remorseful, saddened, with an inner conflict, turmoil, pitch perfect for Gordon in Batman: Year One. Ben McKenzie's Bruce Wayne voice-over sounds darkly driven, determined, methodical, ominously creepy and chillingly grim like a guy who witnessed his parents murder when he was a child and is obsessed with avenging them by warring on crime for the rest of his life, effectively intense without overacting, and he sounds young enough for Bruce in Year One without sounding too young.

It comes of as a very well made animated film with a high budget.

 

[theMan-Bat]

Bryan Cranston said about Batman: Year One: "It was a lot of fun. You know, the reason I took that was—well, at first, I turned it down with the comment, 'Thank you, but I’m not interested in that.' And I told my agency why, and I guess the studio asked me why I would turn it down, so they told them. And they said, 'No, no, no, please, it’s not anything like the TV show' (referencing Adam West's light kiddie fare Batman). Because that’s what I thought. I was like, 'I don't want to do the 'Bang! Zoom! Kapow!' thing, saying things like, 'Get to the Batcave!' But they said, 'No, no, this is completely different,' and I said, 'Well, all right, I'll read the script.' So they sent me the script. My edict is, 'Everything I do really has to be well-written,' and it’s really served me well. And I read that, and I went, 'You know what? This is really well-written, and it’s complex.' Even the Commissioner Gordon role is complex, because he’s conflicted. Basically good, but he has some major character flaws. And it was, like, 'God, this is really interesting! This isn’t like a kid’s cartoon series. This is really in-depth!'"

Will Harris: "And dark."

Bryan Cranston: "It is. It really is. And moody."

http://www.avclub.com/articles/bryan-cranston,58817/

 

[theMan-Bat]